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I'm a mom of 3 teens (2 girls and a son ). I read Heather's book when Drew was at SLUH. It IS awesome! One of THE BEST books I've read with great info to help us be better parents. Great examples and ways to see things in a positive light... how wonderful God's plan is.--Parent

I just finished reading your book. It was awesome, very well done. I was really touched by all the personal testimonies. I can’t wait to give it to my daughter to read. I know it will be a blessing for her. I have never heard chastity explained so beautifully and thoroughly. Thanks so much.—Carol, parent

I really like how this book is broken down into different quick and easy-to-read chapters. The personal stories really stay with me and help me know I am not alone in wanting to wait until I get married to have sex. As a teenager, peer pressure and the signals society sends can lead to an empty life. After reading this book, I understood how important chastity really is, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to any teenager—regardless of how they feel about chastity before reading. I really think that this book could change a lot of lives. It had a huge effect on mine.—Tom, 15-year-old

It is almost impossible, to read this and not feel good about yourself. From reading this book, I feel that no matter what anybody says or does, I’M WORTH WAITING FOR! You know God loves YOU. So, It’s no longer just a mantra that pops in your head when you’re at a weak point—It’s a standard of living you’ll want to set for yourself. This book should be essential for every teenager.—Jessica, 17-year-old

Before I read this book, I didn’t know if I wanted to live a chaste life. But once I started reading the book it became clear to me how awesome living a chaste life actually is. This book inspired me to make the right decision.—Nikki, 14-year-old

I always assumed I would live chastely, always giving a casual, “Yes,” if ever asked if I did. Now that I have read A Case for Chastity, I understand that living chastity is the way to live my life to the fullest.—Bo, 18-year-old

As a mother, I am grateful for this book because I now have plenty of positive analogies to help my children embrace chastity instead of using scare tactics to keep my kids away from sex.—Beth, parent

Being the father of a teenage son and two daughters, I appreciate the recognition that chastity presents different issues for each gender. The real-life testimonials perfectly underline what an emotional and spiritual dead end promiscuity is and the deep, lasting fulfillment that follows from chastity.—David, parent

This book is an exciting new resource for teens, or ANYone, who seeks a logical explanation for choosing to live the virtue of chastity. It’s packed with true stories from people who’ve experienced first hand the positive results of choosing to be chaste, as well some stories of people’s regrets and the consequences associated with not living chastity. I’m sure I’ll be referring to it often for help when sorting out my own dating dilemmas, and when I want to find just the right words to defend my choice for chastity. This is an excellent and practical guide to understanding what an amazingly beautiful gift that sex really is, and why the Catholic Church would want us to treat it with supreme honor and respect!—Ann, young adult

This book is a gold-mine for any teen or young adult who wants to get the most out of their relationships and to prepare themselves in the best way for that most important relationship…your future spouse. This book has an easy and attractive A to Z format which makes a compelling and challenging case for chastity. What makes the case are lots of real-life stories from teens and young adults about their real struggles, their real pain from the mistakes they made, and their real joy on choosing a chaste lifestyle. Heather and Peter’s message is a refreshing and welcome challenge. It’s the truth.—Christine, young adult

First of all the book was excellent! I loved how positively the message was delivered. The book actually gives the teens the process of how to choose Chastity and the process of how to implement it into their daily lives. We talked with people in our parish who consistently show they want to make a difference in our teens lives and they donated money for us to buy books to give to our teens as gifts from the parish. Starting out we purchased 31 books. Our teens have been thrilled that people in our parish care enough to give them a gift. One of the reasons that I know our teens are reading the books is because there are real live stories all throughout the book that are italicized so they are very easy to find. The teens have been going throughout the book and looking for those stories to read rather than starting at the beginning. After every story this is a positive approach of how to move on or what they might have done differently. If you haven’t read the book yet be sure to make it part of your summer reading. I think that this book will make a HUGE difference in their lives.—Clare, Youth Minister

A Case for Chastity is neither so thick only a Rhodes scholar could appreciate it nor is it light in content! No, this book hits the topic head on and has a lot of practicality. It’s refreshing to hear the topic of love, including physical love, framed in a way that is appropriate to the beauty that is real love. The book is very respectful with the topic. Readers will be able to define and defend what they believe. In a very real way this book is good for adults too. I wish I was given this book when I was younger.—Mike, young adult

WOW! That book was beyond inspiring and cool! I read it in one day and realized that I hadn’t been living chastely in all aspects of my life! It was a definite eye opener and an easy read which made it highly enjoyable. One of my friends is already borrowing it, and I’ve only had it for two days. I loved it, seriously!! It covered everything and all my questions were in one chapter or another.—Melissa, 17-year-old

Just wanted to let you know The Holy Spirit worked so well with one of the books I bought from you. Through a conversation with my sister, we decided to give one to our niece, whom we love dearly but have been a little concerned about lately. Long story short, she read it in one day and thanked my sister so much for giving it to her. She loved it. Thank you. I am so happy about this turn of events.—Janece, Mother of Teens

My husband and I want to thank you both for the gift of the Chastity book. I’ve found it very relatable, positive, and simply written.

I love your approach of not telling teens what they can’t do, but instead what they CAN.

It’s very empowering, clearing giving teens the choice to go the right path without using harsh fear tactics. Definately a change from my youth.

You tackle some really basic questions that a lot of teens have like “How far is too far?” and why masturbation is wrong as well as pornography. I hadn’t read much on these three topics and it was great for me to know exactly why they are wrong.

I love the idea of “real love” and why would we settle for less? I’m a firm believer in examples of real people. I think those will speak loudly with teens. They always want to know what others are doing.

I like all the analogies. It’s easier to grasp a concept. Jesus was big on analogies so they MUST be effective!

Again, I love the overall positive, “good news” tone of the book. I found it refreshing… along with the message that it’s never too late to change. I think many teens will after reading this book.—Missy

Ms. Gallagher, I want to tell you THANK YOU so much for the book you and Peter Vlahutin co-authored. This book is invaluable for parents and teens today. I love your approach. I feel I need to do something to promote this idea locally in our grade school as well as our local high school.—Sue, parent

Besides the fact that one of the authors was my college roommate… Having known Pete, this book shows that the authors preach what they practice. Pete gave me this same advice when we were in college together and my marriage is better off for knowing him. This book is also refreshingly faithful to the teachings of the Magesterium. (Thanks, Pete and Heather.) Probably the best part of this book is all the testimonials that Pete and Heather compiled. This shows, in the words of teens themselves, what kind of impact chastity can have in the lives of real people. Their testimony along with countless others, bears witness that chastity is possible! To paraphrase Chesterton, chastity hasn’t been tried and found wanting. It has been wanted and found trying. Be a part of the generation that shows that chastity is the only way to true freedom!—Carl, young adult

I recently read a book called A Case for Chastity: The Way to Real Love and True Freedom for Catholic Teens. It is the best book that I have ever read on the topic. It goes over almost every situation that you can think of when it comes to their sexuality. Most of the students know that they are not supposed to have sex before marriage, but this book tell them why. With movies, television programs, music, the Internet, and many magazines bombarding these kids with the message that “sex is fun” and “everyone is doing it” they need some honest answers from people who want the best for them. A Case for Chastity came out in Feb. of 2004 so it is new and fresh. It is also completely in line with the teachings of the church. I believe that ninth grade is a perfect age for a book like this and I was hoping that we could order a set to have in the classroom. This book is not condemning and will have a positive impact on every student’s life. It will make students respect themselves and their fellow classmates. The book is only 173 pages so it is not overbearing at all. I want to help build the new health program at St. Mary’s to be the best around. I believe this book will help to do that. The book is getting a lot of praise from the catholic community around the U.S. It is a self-esteem builder and will show them the way to True Love. Please consider using this book, it will benefit everyone who reads it.—Tony, a teacher (writing his principal about students reading the book for class).

As a youth minister, I am aware that very few teens really understand the virtue of chastity; they tend to think that the Christian position on the topic of sexuality is simply ‘don’t do it’. In this book, Gallagher and Vlahutin clearly articulate the many reasons WHY we should live this virtue of chastity. Anyone who reads this book with an open mind will, I believe, become convinced that God’s plan for our sexuality is for our good and makes sense. I recommend this book on many different levels - a great gift for teens as they struggle through the turbulent adolescent years, a welcome addition to any library (secular or religious), and a must read for parents - since in my work I have found that very few parents understand the virtue of chastity, and therefore find it nearly impossible to articulate a message of sexual purity to their teens.—Paul, Youth Minister

First of all my mom told me I should read your book before I bought it so I have looking at every library everywhere so that I can check it out to read but haven't had any luck so I hadn't had a chance to read it yet. So anyway I asked Shaun if I might read his copy and he said sure and he told me if I didn't get to finish it I could take it home to finish and just give it back whenever I was done. So of course now I am like in my glory because I have been dying to read it, but anyway I pretty much didn't put it down the whole time we were there and I got it finished (but I still brought it home so that I could read it again). IT WAS GREAT! All of the real life stories/experiences really helped explain it to me. I loved it because like I have 3 chastity cards that I have gotten from different places and I was always like, well they said that we should sign it so I did sign all 3 of them, and I used to think that this just meant that I was saving sex for marriage. But I guess what I am trying to say is that I really liked your book because now I feel like I really know what I stand for since I signed those cards and what their significance is. The cards seem more meaningful to me now. Well, in short the book was great for me and was what I needed in faith journey and it found me at a great point in my life! So thank you so much. --17-year-old woman